Dan plays fairy godfather.

I love a good makeover story. Seriously. I'm the guy that tunes into those decorating shows just to see the before and after where the housewife falls apart because she's receiving her dream kitchen. I'm the guy that gets teary eyed when they show the nerdy girl with buckteeth and bad hair who becomes the prom queen. I'm the guy that liked when Oprah gave the scruffy truckers GQ style make-unders. Yah....

I'm also guy that loves seeing a piece of furniture being revived and given a new lease on life. You know the pieces - they're not really 'antiques'....they're kind of 'vintage' but aren't the pieces that are snagged up right away, they're kind of beat-up, left to die in the corner of the thrift store or someone's Dad's basement.

Say something like this piece originally was - 

http://www.rashoncarraway.com

After searching high and low for weeks (okay, make that months) I finally stumbled across a piece to play fairy godfather to. After cleaning and sorting through my storage room this past weekend I hit-up Goodwill to drop off a couple sizable boxes of randomness. I did my usual quick loop around and out of the corner of my eye I spotted this ugly duckling just waiting for it's own push-up bra, teased hair and new dress (or coat of paint and new drawer pull)...

$19.99 and this beauty was mine! I love the classic shape of this piece....I wish that there had been two! But still, this piece will look awesome in my bedroom after a bit of TLC.

The inspiration, this chest of drawers that was given some love by blogger / designer Mr. Goodwill Hunting (scroll back up the page....yes! This is the same piece!) - 

http://www.rashoncarraway.com

And though I haven't finished transforming this beauty (if this nightstand were a person we'd be looking at multiple episodes of 'The Swan' ), I figured that I'd share with you what I've done thus far.

First up - sanding & priming....

I gave this piece a quick sanding with a heavy grade sandpaper; there were a few deep scratches on the top of the unit that I wanted to try to buff out. This was followed by a final sanding with a fine grit paper and a good wipe down with tack cloth and two coats of alkyd (oil based) primer.

I'm kind of ol' skool when I'm priming - some people say that using a latex primer is fine on previously stained or painted pieces, but I'm from the mindset of better safe than sorry. A good alkyd primer seals the previous finishes and creates fresh surface for the new finish - be it latex or alkyd based.

When it comes to priming and painting pieces I'll use a foam brush for the primer and a nylon bristle brush for the paint (unless I'm using an alkyd based paint when I'll select a pure bristle brush.....trust me they're worth the extra couple of bucks - you'll end-up with a much nicer finish). For this project, I used a basic 2" disposable foamie.

This evening when I got home it was go time! I selected an interior satin finish latex paint in black. Generally I'd wait about two hours between coats, but because I have no patience when it comes to working on projects of this nature, I waited about an hour between coats.

Three coats of paint later this piece is looking pretty sharp (basically at this point in the makeover we've given the secretly pretty girl the new hair and have yanked off her braces to reveal amazing teeth...next up a designer outfit and the hunky jock that will show-up at just the right moment to take her to the prom....).

Not too bad if I do say so myself! Next up, a couple coats of furniture wax, some new hardware and the final dressing. I'm excited to see how this piece looks; check back in this weekend for the end result!

D-

PS.

This project used almost NO paint, meaning that I've got like 3/4 of a quart left....which I've decided gives me the excuse to hunt for a couple more 'ugly ducklings!'